Three weeks ago, United were eight points clear of City. Cue the collapse - losses to Wigan and City combined with a draw, at home to Everton, and the Manchester clubs are now even on points. City, however, have a far superior goal difference. The game was a tense affair; let's examine the tactical breakdown.
Starting line-ups - United set up in the expected 4-3-3 and Fergie brought back Park from the wilderness. Smalling replaced Evans at center back with Phil Jones as the wing-back. Giggsy and Nani were on either wing with Rooney up-top by himself. There has been much ridicule of Fergie for his decision to not pick Valencia. Although, I admit, I was very surprised when the line-ups were announced, I can see what the legendary scotsman was thinking. The United players were asked to force City wide - with the realization that Rio and Smalling would beat Tevez and Aguero in the air. This meant that United played very narrow and for this reason, Valencia was dropped to the bench. Valencia is most effective when flying down the wing and continuously stretches the play. Therefore, having him in the team would allow City to play through the middle and Fergie wanted to eliminate that possibility. With that idea, he played Nani on the right - with the knowledge that Nani would continuously cut inside and therefore give City the ability to only attack through the wings. And it almost worked.
As for City, Mancini set up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 with Barry and Yaya playing in holding positions, and Tevez, Aguero, Nasri and Silva playing in interchangeable forward positions. Mancini has been ostracized for perceived defensive tactics, but in this game, it was clear that he was trying to win the game outright. The italian matched the United midfield by setting up Barry and Toure against Scholes and Carrick respectively. For the first few minutes, Park found himself in space as the extra-man, but shortly, Lescott was picking up his runs and the korean forward was invisible the rest of the game. Zabaleta's runs beyond Giggsy were absolutely breath-taking. The argentine defender, possibly buoyed by the presence of Maradona, played with incredibly passion and speed and caused Evra all sorts of problems.
For the first 10 minutes or so, United controlled the game. But, at no point did it seem that United would score. It was almost as if they had set up to play out a 0-0 which is in itself disappointing. The entire first half was a tactical battle played out in midfield - Carrick and Barry stood out for their respective teams - mostly because of their defensive play. And then came the goal. City's captain, Vincent Kompany, had been sent off the last time the two sides met. His retribution was powering a header past DeGea that it may have won City the title. Most of the media blamed Smalling for the goal. However, I think the blame lies on the shoulders of the older, more experienced, Rio Ferdinand. Rio was guilty of getting in Smalling's way; which allowed Kompany to out-jump the ex-Fulham defender. As the half-time whistle blew, I was convinced that Fergie would take Park off and put Valencia on. That did not happen.
As I have mentioned earlier, I can sort of see why Fergie benched Valencia. I have absolutely no explanation for why he came on in the 79th minute. Valencia is joint-leader in the assist table with David Silva - despite the fact that he has played in 8 less games than the Spanish forward. He is undoubtedly United's most lethal attacking option. If your team needs a goal, you would think that he would the first sub onto the field? Fergie gave Valencia just over ten minutes to impact the game. Even as a United fan, I cannot comprehend what the reasoning was for that decision.
While I have defended the decision to bench Valencia, I cannot defend the decision to start both Scholes and Giggs. Don't get me wrong, they are two of my favorite players. But, surely, at 37 and 38 years of age, they do not have the legs to compete against one of the most powerful midfields in Europe? Besides, by playing Giggs and Nani on the wings, Scholes' greatest asset - his distribution into space - was completely nullified.
But, anyway, credit also goes to Manchester City. There were multiple occasions where they counter-attacked and could have scored more goals. Apparently, getting past Patrice Evra is the easiest thing in football these days. In particular, Yaya Toure was a monster carrying the ball forward - and helped City control the midfield. Yaya has flourished into one of the top midfielders in the world, and at 28, is reaching the levels that Barcelona expected of him.
There was also the off-the-field battle between Fergie and Mancini, which I admit seemed to have been started by the old Glaswegian legend. Sir Alex' temper is well-publicized and it was certainly on-show while he berated Mancini for 'complaining'. Sir Alex - how many times have we watched you remonstrating with the referee?
With this loss and the subsequent two games, I certainly expect City to win the title. If both teams win their respective games, it will be the first time that the title will have been won on goal-difference; and that would be pretty amazing. Mancini's pressure-deflecting tactics are working wonders, and surely the Italian should be (along with Brendan Rogers) a strong candidate for manager of the year. For those of you who have recently started watching football, this would be only the second time, in the premier league era, that a team other than United, Arsenal or Chelsea has won the league. The only other time was Blackburn - under the tutelage of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish. And Mancini deserves some serious credit. This is also the first time in about 5 years that City has done the league double over United. Noisy neighbors indeed.
As for United - it's time to revert back to 4-4-2 and hope that City has an off-day against Newcastle.
Next up - preview of the FA cup final and the big league games at the weekend.
Starting line-ups - United set up in the expected 4-3-3 and Fergie brought back Park from the wilderness. Smalling replaced Evans at center back with Phil Jones as the wing-back. Giggsy and Nani were on either wing with Rooney up-top by himself. There has been much ridicule of Fergie for his decision to not pick Valencia. Although, I admit, I was very surprised when the line-ups were announced, I can see what the legendary scotsman was thinking. The United players were asked to force City wide - with the realization that Rio and Smalling would beat Tevez and Aguero in the air. This meant that United played very narrow and for this reason, Valencia was dropped to the bench. Valencia is most effective when flying down the wing and continuously stretches the play. Therefore, having him in the team would allow City to play through the middle and Fergie wanted to eliminate that possibility. With that idea, he played Nani on the right - with the knowledge that Nani would continuously cut inside and therefore give City the ability to only attack through the wings. And it almost worked.
As for City, Mancini set up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 with Barry and Yaya playing in holding positions, and Tevez, Aguero, Nasri and Silva playing in interchangeable forward positions. Mancini has been ostracized for perceived defensive tactics, but in this game, it was clear that he was trying to win the game outright. The italian matched the United midfield by setting up Barry and Toure against Scholes and Carrick respectively. For the first few minutes, Park found himself in space as the extra-man, but shortly, Lescott was picking up his runs and the korean forward was invisible the rest of the game. Zabaleta's runs beyond Giggsy were absolutely breath-taking. The argentine defender, possibly buoyed by the presence of Maradona, played with incredibly passion and speed and caused Evra all sorts of problems.
For the first 10 minutes or so, United controlled the game. But, at no point did it seem that United would score. It was almost as if they had set up to play out a 0-0 which is in itself disappointing. The entire first half was a tactical battle played out in midfield - Carrick and Barry stood out for their respective teams - mostly because of their defensive play. And then came the goal. City's captain, Vincent Kompany, had been sent off the last time the two sides met. His retribution was powering a header past DeGea that it may have won City the title. Most of the media blamed Smalling for the goal. However, I think the blame lies on the shoulders of the older, more experienced, Rio Ferdinand. Rio was guilty of getting in Smalling's way; which allowed Kompany to out-jump the ex-Fulham defender. As the half-time whistle blew, I was convinced that Fergie would take Park off and put Valencia on. That did not happen.
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| Kompany scores possibly the most important goal in City's history. |
As I have mentioned earlier, I can sort of see why Fergie benched Valencia. I have absolutely no explanation for why he came on in the 79th minute. Valencia is joint-leader in the assist table with David Silva - despite the fact that he has played in 8 less games than the Spanish forward. He is undoubtedly United's most lethal attacking option. If your team needs a goal, you would think that he would the first sub onto the field? Fergie gave Valencia just over ten minutes to impact the game. Even as a United fan, I cannot comprehend what the reasoning was for that decision.
While I have defended the decision to bench Valencia, I cannot defend the decision to start both Scholes and Giggs. Don't get me wrong, they are two of my favorite players. But, surely, at 37 and 38 years of age, they do not have the legs to compete against one of the most powerful midfields in Europe? Besides, by playing Giggs and Nani on the wings, Scholes' greatest asset - his distribution into space - was completely nullified.
But, anyway, credit also goes to Manchester City. There were multiple occasions where they counter-attacked and could have scored more goals. Apparently, getting past Patrice Evra is the easiest thing in football these days. In particular, Yaya Toure was a monster carrying the ball forward - and helped City control the midfield. Yaya has flourished into one of the top midfielders in the world, and at 28, is reaching the levels that Barcelona expected of him.
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| Battle of the managers - Sorry, Sir Alex, but the Italian just jobbed you. |
With this loss and the subsequent two games, I certainly expect City to win the title. If both teams win their respective games, it will be the first time that the title will have been won on goal-difference; and that would be pretty amazing. Mancini's pressure-deflecting tactics are working wonders, and surely the Italian should be (along with Brendan Rogers) a strong candidate for manager of the year. For those of you who have recently started watching football, this would be only the second time, in the premier league era, that a team other than United, Arsenal or Chelsea has won the league. The only other time was Blackburn - under the tutelage of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish. And Mancini deserves some serious credit. This is also the first time in about 5 years that City has done the league double over United. Noisy neighbors indeed.
As for United - it's time to revert back to 4-4-2 and hope that City has an off-day against Newcastle.
Next up - preview of the FA cup final and the big league games at the weekend.
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